COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 22, 2012) – The U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team continued to roll in the FIVB World Grand Prix with a 25-19, 25-23, 25-18 victory over Serbia in a Pool J match Friday evening in Bangkok, Thailand.

The U.S., ranked No. 1 in the world and qualified for the 2012 Olympic Games, improves to 7-0 with 21 standings points. With the victory, the U.S. qualified for the FIVB World Grand Prix Final Round set for June 27 to July 1 in Ningbo, China. The Americans are currently atop the preliminary round standings.Serbia is now 2-5 with eight points.

Team USA faces Argentina (0-6, 0 points, 15th place before Friday match with Thailand) at 11:50 p.m. PT on June 22 before concluding the preliminary round against host Thailand (5-1, 14 points, 4th place before Friday match with Argentina) at 2:20 a.m. PT on June 24. The top five teams following the nine-match preliminary round, along with host China, advance to the six-team Final Round in China.

The U.S. used a 4-0 scoring run in the opening set to take a 14-11 advantage en route to a 25-19 victory in which the Americans put up eight blocks. Team USA rallied from a 10-3 deficit in the second set by countering with its own 10-3 scoring run in moving on to a 25-23 victory. The U.S. rushed out to a 6-2 lead in the third set and never allowed Serbia closer than two points the rest of the way in closing out the match with a 25-18 set victory.

“It’s great to win this match,” U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon (Christchurch, New Zealand) said. “Serbia is also strong despite the fact that they are playing without key players. I think both sides performed well. I have yet thought about the Ningbo Finals, although (the win tonight) has assured us a ticket to the Finals. We still have to play the remaining two matches against Argentina and Thailand (here in Bangkok).”

Megan Hodge (Durham, N.C.) paced the U.S. with a match-high 17 points with 16 kills and an ace. Kristin Richards (Orem, Utah), who did not travel the first two preliminary round weekends, contributed 10 kills and six blocks for 16 points. Nancy Metcalf (Hull, Iowa) charted seven kills and two blocks for nine points. Christa Harmotto (Hopewell Township, Pa.) totaled five blocks and three kills for eight points. Heather Bown (Yorba Linda, Calif.) charted three blocks, two kills and an ace for six points. Alisha Glass (Leland, Mich.) and Tayyiba Haneef-Park (Laguna Hills, Calif.) each tacked on two points.

“I’m glad that we won the match ,” said Danielle Scott-Arruda (Baton Rouge, La.), the U.S. captain for the current preliminary round pool. “We played without any pressure. We trained hard. I hope we can perform well in the remaining matches.”

McCutcheon started Glass at setter, Hodge and Richards at outside hitter, Bown and Harmotto at middle blocker and Metcalf at opposite. Davis is the designated U.S. libero for Pool J. Tamari Miyashiro (Kaneohe, Hawaii) came in all three sets as a serving sub, while Courtney Thompson (Kent, Wash.) and Haneef-Park were a part of a double-switch in the first two sets.

Team USA out-blocked Serbia 16-9 in the match as both teams served three aces. The U.S. held a 41-24 margin in kills to help offset 24 errors to Serbia’s 15. The Americans converted 36.3 percent of their attacks into points with a .239 hitting efficiency (41-14-113), compared to Serbia’s 21.2 kill percent and .088 hitting efficiency (24-14-113). Team USA held a 22-6 dig advantage, while Serbia managed a slim edge in excellent reception percent – 17.6 to 17.5.

“I congratulate the USA for their win,” Serbia coach Branko Kovacevic said. “It’s very difficult to win points from the USA. They are very strong and unusually good. We found it hard to overcome their attack. Their serves and attacks are beyond our level. My players also made too many mistakes.”

Team USA is attempting to become just the second country to win the FIVB World Grand Prix for three consecutive years. Aside from the U.S., only Brazil has successfully defended its title having won the tournament three consecutive years from 2004 to 2006 and back-to-back years in 2008 and 2009.

The U.S. started the first set with a 2-0 lead with a Hodge kill and Harmotto block. Serbia knotted the score at 2-all and gained a 6-5 lead on back-to-back Team USA errors. Hodge slammed a kill and Metcalf put up a block for the U.S. to take a 9-8 advantage. Serbia regained the lead at 11-10, but Hodge and Richards collected consecutive kills to return the U.S. in front 12-11. A Serbia error and Richards block extended the American lead to 14-11 on a 4-0 scoring run. Serbia sliced the gap to 14-13, but Metcalf and Hodge hammered kills for a 16-13 margin going into the second technical timeout. Bown scored a kill and block to push the American lead to 18-14 prompting a Serbia timeout. The U.S. stretched the lead to 20-15 with a Metcalf kill and Serbia error. Harmotto scored a block after a Serbia service error to increase the Team USA to 22-16 at Serbia’s second timeout. Serbia whittled two points off the gap at 23-19. Haneef-Park gave the U.S. set points with a kill at 24-19, then Harmotto followed with the eighth U.S. block of the set for a 25-19 victory. Hodge and Richards led the U.S. with six points each as seven different Americans scored at least one point.

Serbia scored the first two points of the second set and went up 5-1 as the Americans had three early errors. Out of a USA timeout, Serbia put up a block to push the gap to 6-1 and went into the first technical timeout leading 8-2 following a block. Serbia continued to build the lead to 10-3, but Hodge hit a kill from the back row followed by a Richards block to narrow the gap to 10-5. The U.S. went on a 3-0 run with kills by Richards and Metcalf followed by a Bown block at 11-8 to prompt a Serbia timeout. Out of the break, Richards scored a block and Glass served an ace to pull the Americans to within one at 11-10. Serbia responded with two quick points to increase the margin to 13-10. Metcalf answered with consecutive kills and Serbia hit long to level the score at 13-all. The U.S. scored a fourth straight point on a Serbia error to take the lead at 14-13. The U.S. gained a two-point cushion at 17-15 with a Hodge kill and Harmotto block. Hodge launched a kill and ace on back-to-back points to increase the U.S. advantage to 19-16. Serbia responded with consecutive points to close to within one at 19-18. Metcalf and Richards collected back-to-back kills to return the U.S. advantage to three at 21-18, but Serbia moved back to within one at 22-21. Team USA sided out the rest of the way ending with a Harmotto block at 25-23. Richards tallied six points to lead the Americans, who had five blocks.

Team USA earned 6-2 advantage on two kills by Hodge around kills by Metcalf and Harmotto as part of a 4-0 scoring run going into a Serbia timeout. Serbia responded with an ace after a U.S. error to cut the gap in half at 6-4. However, Hodge hit a back-row kill after a Serbia error to take an 8-4 lead into the first technical timeout. The U.S. lead expanded to 10-5 on a Richards kill and Serbia attack error. But Serbia responded with three consecutive points to move to within two at 10-8. Consecutive blocks by Bown and Metcalf placed the U.S. in front 13-9, only to have Serbia cut the deficit in half at 13-11 with back-to-back points before a U.S. timeout. Hodge followed a Serbia service error out of the break with a kill to return the gap to four at 15-11. Harmotto put up a block after a Hodge kill to extend the advantage to 17-12. Serbia took a timeout down 19-13 after a Hodge kill and Serbia error. Out of the break, Harmotto put up a block for a 20-13 lead. Serbia scored four of the next five points to close to 21-17. Bown and Metcalf answered with back-to-back kills to send the score to 23-17. Richards and Hodge gained the last two points with kills at 25-18 to close out the set and match.